Friday, October 05, 2007

The Mighty Mouse Show presents a Tribute To The Unhinged

Insanity is a common theme in my cartoons, as I said in my last post. Here's a whole lineup dedicated to the insane, with the main feature another Mighty Mouse brought to you by Ralph Bakshi.

Cuckoo For Cocoa Puffs

Night On Bald Pate

This is the first time I ever got to do a cartoon about an insane character. When Ralph read the script he rejected it. (He rejected 2 out of every 3 stories we wrote, I think just to keep us on our toes. I said let me record the voices first. After he heard the cassette of Patrick Pinney playing a chemically deranged Petey Pate, Ralph said "I get it now. Make the Goddamn cahtoon. You're f*****in' crazy Johnny. You'll get us all fired. I love ya"

Before some 18 year old tells John K. that the animation is jerky and "Bald Pate" is not as funny as "Family Guy", remember that this was a couple of years before 'The Simpsons' and light years away from what a 'normal cartoon' was perceived to be by the toy company loving established media in 1987. The ironic thing is that CBS tried to in-house produce "The Garbage Pail Kids" as their 'edgy' series that same year, which got cancelled during production, while Ralph did "Mighty Mouse" and got it on the air, where it was a hit with little girls and 34 year olds. It got rave critical reviews from major sources, winning the ACT Award from Peggy Charren, of all people. In other words, the bankable and trustworthy, dependable straight-arrow industry types who openly loathed anything different fell on their faces creatively while Ralph's unproven upstart show runners ran with it. I'm not even gonna get into Hanna-Barbera's abysmal "Popeye and Son" from that same season, which had been promoted as a 'sure-fire hit' before it tanked. The industry was gravely ill in 1987 and Mighty Mouse offered it a glimmer of hope. The best the mainstream hack houses could do was to poorly copy it in stuff like "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo", which deserves its very own spot in hell. Thanks to the executive genius of the past few years, the business is on freaking chemo today and could use another jolt of something creatively fresh. Another quirky chuckle comes from the undeniable fact that that old cadaver Sumner Redstone today bears a strong behavioral resemblance to Petey Pate. Praise the Lord.

When I first saw The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse, I was so relieved that they were making REAL cartoons again. I used to video tape cartoons and trace the playback on the television, then try it again freehand. This was one of my favorite shows to do practice that.

Adult Swim has a nice site where they stream their new shows, as well as classic shows like Pee-Wee's Playhouse and the old Astro Boy cartoons here with a couple commercials. What it's missing though are the easy links to buy the DVDs. Maybe you could get them to show your Boo-Boo cartoons and hopefully make more.

Nice cartoon! I wish I had these on DVD, with real credits! Man, imagine the all-star commentary sessions these would have if you got the crew back together. Representatives from every major modern studio AND Ralph Bakshi.

I don't think A Pup Named Scooby Doo was as good as Mighty Mouse but it was probably the best Hanna-Barbara cartoon since Wally Gator. The colours were garish, but it was a hell of a lot better than the original Scooby Doo (although that's not saying much) and the animation was nice and rubbery, had wild takes and honest to goodness squash-and-stretch.

And it was better than Tiny Toons. They weren't desecrating a classic, but rather they were improving a travesty.

>I'm not even gonna get into Hanna-Barbera's abysmal "Popeye and Son" from that same season, which had been promoted as a 'sure-fire hit' before it tanked.

You mean the one where that had anti-smoking bumpers from Popeye, of all people? Bluto takes a drag of a sin stick and loses a foot race to that clean living role model, the one-eyed sailor? God that show was terrible! You know a show is bad when the writers forget the premise, like when the writers of the Smurfs would forget that they're supposed to be tiny, or that episode of Loonatics where they turned into animals (which I didn't watch, I just saw the promo)

another classic! i wish it was better quality though.. the audio is off when i play it... still, mighty mouse adventures with the sound out of synch in crappy youtube format is better than seeing most other "cartoons" in HD THX on a giant screen

I loved these as a kid!!!!I remember this being one of the few new animated shows I actually waited for as kid. The rest of the time I watched endless old cartoons on TCM Turner classic. MAKE MORE PSYCHO DRAMA CARTOONS PLEASE!!!

New Adventures of Mighty Mouse was great, but I don't think I was old enough to really appreciate how good they were at that point (being 9 and all). but I did know it was better than just about all the other lameass Saturday morning crap the networks used to pump us 80's kids full of while making us want to buy NERDS CEREAL!

Turbo Teen, Bionic Six, Rubic the Amazing Cube, Saturday Supercade, The Get Along Gang, Endless Smurf cartoons and knockoffs, cartoons about WWF wrestlers, He-Man spinoffs... It's like American kids we were being given the "Saturday Morning Ludivico Treatment"... playing Popeye and Son with a Beethoven score.

I saw this episode of Mighty Mouse when I was about 5 years old and it became my first favorite cartoon. I still love it today. Like Ren & Stimpy, it's wild, inventive, funny, and it's also layered, the characters have compelling psychology.

Ren Seeks Help is just Genius, the storyline is very dark, but it's not a downer. It's fascinating to see cartoon characters in very intense human situations, bringing their own specialties to enrich them, such as funny drawings and musical timing.

I'm all in favor of cartoon characters pitching their own commercials, it's straight to the point with plenty of appeal.

Right now, I like thousands of other college students, watch less and less TV and spend more time on the internet or in front of a computer than ever. Shitty programing crammed with advertisements, poorly conceived plot lines, and cheaply made animation without fun or specificity is what's to blame for driving me away.

If you TV executives listen to him and let the entertainers do what they do best, it would definitely bring me back to TV again. As it is, all I'm really looking for online are the good shows which don't appear on TV anymore anyway!

I sure like that smear animation in these Mighty Mouse cartoon. Who exactly are you trying to pitch this to, anyways?

Oh wow Popeye and Son looks awful:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BcyEZYYqz4

Yeah, I know. Popeye's son doesn't even look like him. If someone's going to make Popeye have his own son, it should like one of his nephews. And what's worse is that I heard Art Davis (director at WB in the '40s) directed on it.

Mighty Mouse:The New Adventures ruled. Great characters villains like The Glove and The Cow, funny drawings, real cartoony emotions, hot cartoon females, and great voice talent like the late Candy Candido. Your proposed format for your next cartoon show on your blog is terrific, I'd watch something like this. And Gosh, hell, so would millions and millions of other red blooded Americans, they need the solid cartoon entertainment package that you offer. It's money in the bank

Hey John, I hope no one's asked this but did you have any particular fondness towards Mighty Mouse the character, or just Terrytoons in general? I ask because the story about Bakshi heading the show is basically that it was what was available, and the New Adventures are so obviously just a format for trying different cartoony ideas and stories within the context of a superhero mouse saving the day. Just curious!

I haven't missed a Friday night episode yet! This totally works and keeps me entertained to the highest level. If I saw this kind of format on TV (or an online channel for that matter) I think I'd pee my trousers with glee!

The 1960s idea of cartoon characters selling products for their sponsors before the main cartoon is a great idea.I dont know why it isnt being done at the moment-if the cartoon is good,its a sure fire way to increase sales and bring some charm and humour back in advertising.

Dear JohnI go to School of Visual arts and I have loved Ren and Stimpy since I was a little kid I was thinking you should come to NY and do a talk at School Of Visual Arts. I have been watching animation my whole life and I have never seen an animation that is as good as Ren and stimpy!you can see some of my art herewww.dirtyboards.netalright hopefully you can come to NY or if not keep making art!!!!!!!!!!!!

Insane or stupid? To tell ya the truth at first when I saw Ren and Stimpy I hated it . The characters looked more stupid rather than just crazy. But after a few years and going around forums I found your blog and it turns out you arent that sick as I thought you were :D . No Im not saying this to offend nor am I saying that I hate what your doing Im just saying I disliked this kind of cartoons.I havent read all your opinions yet but I will and I also heard you have a solid view of what cartoons should be so Im intrested.

Hi John, Mighty mouse rules!!truly honest entertainmenthey, you should do a post about the POV of cartoonist, I have a problem trying to see the points of view in the different cartoonists, or trying to find my point of view and apply it.your pal, Paul

I was an adult in the '80s (I still am), yet I found myself surreptitiously recording a Saturday morning kids' cartoon and watching it in secret, alone. It was "Popeye and Son" and... no, kidding. It was MM.

I find Petey Pete a bit repulsive but those are the smartest Henchmen I've ever seen. They really break the mold of Big Dumb Lug henchmen. They seem smarter than the Arch Villain and the Hero. I didn't know Evil Henchmen could rub your belly to calm you down. Now I want to be an Arch Villain more than ever. What's not to love about Evil Lairs, the Coolest Toys and a nice belly rub to bring you momentarily back to sanity once in a while?